The title of today’s post, of course, comes from the quote by Yoda, the great Jedi Master himself. It’s from that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Luke has crashed his ship into the swamp on Degobah, and he’s standing on the edge of the swamp trying to figure out what to do about it and Yoda tells him to use the Force to get his ship out. Luke hesitantly says “All right…I’ll try…” and Yoda immediately snaps “No! Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”
In other words, if you want something badly enough you’ll find a way; otherwise, you’ll find an excuse. If you have a dream that’s close to your heart you form it into an actionable goal, and then you’ve got to be willing to do what needs to be done in order to get it done. DO it. Don’t TRY to do it. (A difference there is, hmm?)
Just Do It
If you really want to make something happen you have to commit to it, big time. If you want to achieve your goals, then take a page from Nike and “just do it”! Make a promise to yourself that, come hell or high water, you WILL make it happen. And then get moving. Whatever you do, don’t tell yourself: “I’ll try.” Trying is great for things that aren’t that important to you; for instance, when you want to venture out into new areas like trying new types of cuisine, or trying a new activity that isn’t particularly important to you. But trying has no place when it comes to going after your biggest dreams and goals.
Why There is No Try
The problem, as I see it, is that when you say you’re “going to try” you’re most likely not going to do it. Because when you say you’ll try, it usually means one of two things: one, you don’t really want to do it, or two, you don’t really believe that you can do it. And neither of those are good vibrational matches to achieving any kind of goal.
Don't say you'll 'try'; it usually means 1) you don't WANT to, or 2) you don't think you CAN. Click To Tweet“I’ll try” is a self-protecting phrase that gives you an “out” or an escape clause “in case” it doesn’t work. It’s like giving yourself permission to lay the blame at someone else’s feet if you “try” and then fail, because if you tried, then it must have been “too hard”, or someone else didn’t “do their part”, or whatever. It’s an attempt to save yourself the pain of having to face the fact that if you failed it was because you didn’t make it happen. But the words themselves imply and assume imminent defeat, and they show that you lack the confidence and the will to put forth the necessary effort to make it happen. They are a big clue that your focus is on failure rather than success. And what you focus on is what you tend to bring about.
Commit Like Crazy
When you approach a goal with the mindset that you don’t really want it, or you’re not sure you really want it, you are not a match to achieving it. When you approach a goal with the mindset of “gee, I’d really like to…” there is always a “BUT” that comes after it. So get clear in your own head about what you want before you approach your goal. If you don’t really want it, then it’s no big deal – go figure out what it is that you do want, instead.
'I'll try' assumes defeat. Don't set yourself up for failure; decide that you WILL make it happen! Click To TweetBut if you realize that you really do want it then don’t give yourself that back door of “try”. If you decide you want to follow a dream, then decide already and commit like crazy to making it happen! I AM. I WILL. I CAN. These are your power mantras – use them, and feel the energy and vibrational boost it gives you, just by changing your words. Your words are tied to your thoughts, and your thoughts create your world. Change your words and it will change your thoughts, your beliefs and, therefore, your world.
Get clear about what you want, and believe in your own ability to make it happen. Trust yourself and trust the Universe! Do you remember what happens right after Yoda lifts the ship out of the swamp with the Force? Luke says “I don’t believe it!” And Yoda, wisest of Jedi Masters, replies: “That is why you fail.” So BELIEVE… and then DO. There is no try.
photo credit: Loren Javier via photopin cc
Wow, what a great post! Yes, this is so true! I love those scenes of movie, which is one of my all time favorites.
Gotta love Yoda! And I live by those words. So, faith is a huge, if not the most important element in the creative process. Even if you are not the best, most beautiful, intelligent, etc, etc, if you have faith that you will succeed, it happens. I think we put blocks in the creative process when we have doubts and we say we will try and that does sound kind of lame as I read it now. But the problem is, if we do not succeed, we will feel like losers and that sucks.
I have found that we need to concentrate on the end goal and everything else in between, the obstacles (there always seem to be some), the doubts, the lack of faith in others, kind of blur and slowly fade out of the picture. The process may be hard, but I think if our faith is indestructible, this helps a lot.
Empire Strikes Back was one of my favourites, too. 🙂 Faith is a huge element in any process — anything you want to do, have or become, you need to have faith in order to get yourself there. Faith in yourself, faith in your own abilities, faith that whatever you need to learn or do on the way will come to you when you need it, faith that the Universe will be there with you every step of the way. Doubts are normal, but we get to choose what happens with them — do we let the doubts call the shots or do we use them as stepping stones along the way?
How can doubts be used as stepping stones? They seem more like boulders that have to be moved out if the way or exploded with dynamite. Any tips on how to use them as stepping stoned will deeply appreciated!
Oh, yes, we can use doubt as an indicator to where we are. Ok, they are somewhat useful in this respect, but I usually see them as something to be conquered. This may or may not be good, probably the latter?
A., that’s a really, really good question and you made me realize I’ve never actually talked abou the “how” of this before. And I suspect there are more than a few readers with the same question, so I’ve written an entire article on this subject, and it will be posted for you on Wednesday. Thanks for bringing it up! 🙂
That would be great if you would please elaborate on that. You know, you do not even have to blow boulders up. You can do it so subtly, no one else would notice. I mean, if you slowly trickle down water around the boulder, loosening up the soil around it. After a while, the soil underneath it will cave, not being able to hold it up any longer due to gravity (another force here on earth, might as well work with it) and there you go, you removed it from your path. This may take a long time, but since it is subtle, the people around you won’t complain or comment to how long it is taking, etc, etc, but may very well notice you and your success!
I have thought that our being here is a test of our vibration and faith. If we got those two going, we are in good shape. More importantly, we must be aware of where we are and how to fix it.
Just posting the link for the stepping stones post for anyone else reading these comments and wondering where it is… 😉